


Sickness

by StarKkid



Category: IT - Stephen King
Genre: BAMF Eddie, Beverly Marsh (mentioned) - Freeform, Bill Denbrough (Mentioned) - Freeform, Eddie Kaspbrak Loves Richie Tozier, Friendship, Homophobic Language, Hurt/Comfort, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Other, Pennywise (IT) Being an Asshole, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Richie needs a hug, Sonia Kaspbrak's A+ Parenting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-17
Updated: 2019-09-17
Packaged: 2020-11-02 07:41:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20671616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarKkid/pseuds/StarKkid
Summary: “He’s going to infect me, Eddie!” Eddie looked frantically between his mother strapped down onto the germ-ridden table, and the wide-eyed, raven haired boy standing before her, an equally confused expression plastered on his face.“The fuck is she talking about, Eds?”





	Sickness

**Author's Note:**

> This is 100% what I thought was going to happen when this scene came on, and then when it wasn’t I couldn’t stop thinking about it, so I made it happen :)

“I’m just sayin’, next time I see Bill I’m gonna whack him a good one.” Eddie has lost track of how long Richie has been talking. A lot of the time he would just zone out, let the kid talk but not really pay attention to what he was saying. It was usually either a comment about his mother, something sexual, or talking a big game of himself. From the little bits that Eddie had tuned into during their bike ride to the chemist, it was the third. “Maybe give him a kick in the dick.”

The boys finally pulled up outside what could be considered Eddie’s second home. They each hopped off their bikes and leant them against the building. “But then again, it’s not like he has a dick so I guess that wouldn’t affect him.” Richie snickered, looking at Eddie with a wide grin   
as he awaited a response for his comment. “Why are you still going on about this, Rich? It happened a week ago.” Richie just shrugged.

Eddie rolled his eyes as he adjusted his fanny pack , opening it up to ensure he had the correct change for his prescription. Eddie knew why he was going on about it. Bill was Richie’s first friend in Derry. They met when they were little and grew up together basically. It was always them, and then one by one more losers joined them, and yes, nowadays Richie and Eddie were a lot more close and Bill and Bev were starting to become a thing, but it still didn’t hurt any less when Bill punched Richie in the face. Eddie could see that Richie was heartbroken and hurting, and Eddie knew how Richie coped with that. Richie always had to be ‘tough’ or ‘unphased’ by emotions, like showing feeling was a bad thing. Richie was the funny one, the class clown, and anything other then that was showing weakness – according to Richie anyway.

Eddie hated that about Richie. Even in times of crisis like a killer clown, Richie still had to make jokes or act tough. He couldn’t let himself feel scared, or even worse, show anyone he was scared.

That day at Niebolt, right before Bill had punched Richie, was the most scared Eddie had ever seen him.

“That’s my hair, that’s my face, that’s my name, that’s my age, that’s the date!!”

Eddie stood still, watching. He didn’t know what to do or how to move. Richie was so scared, so panicked. He was never like this.

He watched as Bill tried to calm him down, telling him it wasn’t real. It wasn’t until Richie’s gaze flicked onto him that he remembered how to move his legs. Richie was hearing Bill, but he wasn’t listening. As much as Richie and Bill were friends, everyone knew that Eddie was truly the only person who Richie relied on for support. Eddie was always the one to put him in his place and tell him to shut up. Eddie was the one that Richie would always want to be close to in the rare times he did show fear – like the projector. That clown came out of fucking nowhere, and Richie had admitted earlier that he was afraid of clowns, PLUS as far as anyone knew, this was Richies first time seeing it. He grabbed onto Eddie for dear life that day. Screaming. 

Right now, Eddie could tell Richie was scared. He was wanting Eddie to help him, tell him the same things that Bill was but this time he would believe them. 

But he didn’t. 

Eddie doesn’t know why he didn’t say something – he has honestly thought about that every day since. In any other situation, Eddie always helped. Always said something. Why was this different?   
He’s tried to blame it on being too scared to move, which in a way was true, but he was much more scared that day he saw the Leper, or the projector, and both times he moved. So he knows he was capable. 

Then he thinks about the way Richie looked. How big his eyes were with fear, his glasses magnifying them even more so there was basically no other option for Eddie but to see the fear in his eyes. The way his voice cracked and trembled with every word. The way the MISSING poster looked so real, so similar to the others hanging around Derry. He thinks about how he would feel if Richie ever DID go missing, and then he stops himself.

That day, looking at Richie and actually being forced to consider a life without his best friend…. Well, Eddie had never been so scared in his life.

Eddie lied. He does know the answer, he just won’t admit it to himself. 

His mother always told him it was a sickness. One to add to the long list of diseases plaguing the world, and one that Eddie had to avoid at all costs. AIDS, HIV. This was a way you could catch it and die. And with the AID epidemic spreading, now more than ever Eddie had to be careful. He couldn’t think of Richie that way. Richie was just a friend. His best friend, yeah, but there was nothing wrong about that.

Eddie was pulled from his train of thought by the sound of the bell ding of the chemist door. Richie held it open and bowed. “Afta you, gov’na” He said in his best impression of cockney Buttler. Eddie rolled his eyes and walked in.

“What are we getting today?” The raven hair kid asked, picking up random boxes of medication as they walked down the aisles, inspecting them. “Something for the mole on your dick, perhaps?” He smirked as he held up wart cream in front of Eddie’s face. “That’s not what that’s for.” Eddie snatched it from him, politely putting it back on the shelf. “And plus, I got it from fucking your mother so you may want to check your hereditary diseases.” Eddie replied with a smug grin. He was always proud when he was able to get Richie back. He looked ahead at the counter and saw it was empty, meaning the creepy old man was probably around the corner and hasn’t seen them yet.

“I just gotta grab my top up, go down that aisle so Mr. Keene doesn’t see you.” Pointing down an aisle a few away from the one they were in currently. “If my mum finds out we were hanging out she’ll kill me.” His mum was still not happy with Eddie’s friends about his broken arm. No matter how many times Eddie tried to tell her they were attacked, she still held onto her belief that his friends were dangerous and the only safe person for him to be around was herself.

Surprisingly enough, Richie did so without any side comment. Just giving Eddie a small smile and walking over to the aisle he had pointed out immediately picking up a box and examining the contents.

Eddie knew that since the Losers split, Richie has been spending most of his time in the arcade, and these small times he gets with Eddie riding their bikes from Eddie’s house to the chemist and back was a sigh of relief to the loneliness they both were feeling. These bike rides together were something Eddie always looked forward to.

He approached the counter, and waited patiently for Mr. Keene to spot him. “Just your refills, Eddie?” The croaky voice asked, his head popping up from behind a shelf in the back. “Yes please, Mr. Keene.” He responded, resting his cast on the counter and tapping his fingers, waiting.  
No more than a minute had passed and Mr. Keene has returned, a white paper bag in hand. “Here ya go, the usual stuff.” He handed over the bag with a small grin, one that always made Eddie feel uncomfortable. Eddie responded with his own smile, and opened the zip to his fanny pack, pulling out the change his mother had given him before he left.

“Thanks!” After popping the money in the old mans hand, Eddie turned on his heels and headed towards the door. 

Just another casual chemist trip…

“Eddie!”

Huh? Eddie spun around, looking around the chemist curiously. He swore he just heard someone say-  
“Eddie!”

His head spun towards the staircase towards the back left of the building, the voice was louder that time. It sounded female..

“…..yes?” He responded in a whisper, as if someone shouting his name from all the way down the stairs would be able to hear that.

There was no response. It was probably just Richie trying to scare him. Bloody hell, he told him to keep hidden!

Eddie walked cautiously towards the stairs and the voice. As he reached the doorway, he peaked in. It was old, the staircase was wooden and creaky, barely holding together and clearly hadn’t been cleaned properly since the chemist opened. The bottom of the stairs was dark, and there was a faint smell of mould in the air.

“Richie!” He whispered, almost shouting at the kid. “Cut it out, that’s not funny.” No response. “Fine, you know what, I’m just gonna leave you there.” Eddie snapped, barely turning an inch to walk away when he heard it again. 

“Eddie bear!” Mother?

That was definitely his Mum’s voice down there. As much as Richie would say otherwise, he sucked at impressions. Not even he could perfect his mother’s voice like that. The hairs on the back of Eddie’s neck started to stand, his heart racing just that small bit.

“Mummy?..” he replied carefully. Taking one small, shaky step down the stairwell. “Mummy… you in there?” The further down he stepped, the more light there was. There wasn’t a lot, more like a fluorescent glow. Something similar to a small lamp in a very large room.

“Eddie bear, help me!!”

His mother sounded frightened. What was she doing down here?

He hurried his steps now, clearly aware that if his mother was in danger he needed to hurry. As he stepped off the last step, he looked around. He appeared to be in some sort of basement. There were shelves stacked with medical supplies and medication. Just ahead though, there was a curtain draped across the room, splitting it in half. Behind it, Eddie could make out the shape of someone – a person. They were struggling against something, shaking.  
For some reason Eddie’s brain wasn’t working. He put all the pieces together, and knew that must have been his mother behind the curtain, calling to him, so why wasn’t he running there to help her now?

He inched forward slowly. “Mummy… what are you doing down here?” Did his voice just shake? Was that obvious?

“Please hurry Eddie.. he’ll hurt me!” She sounded so desperate and afraid. Eddie had never heard his mother like that. One more shaky step forward, Eddie reached his hand down to his fanny pack, frantically pulling out his inhaler. His eyes never left the silhouette behind the curtain. He gave the inhaler a few shakes, feeling his breathe shorten as his heart sped up, and took 2 large puffs.

He’s brave. Eddie was brave. He can do this, he can help his mum. He will help his mum!

“Oi, Dipshit!”

Eddie nearly shit his pants.

“What the fu-“ He gasped loudly, spinning around and knocking into some shelves on the way. A few blood bags fell off the top of the shelf and landed right onto Eddie. Omgomgomgomg I’m going to get AIDS, I’m going to die holy shit what the fuck. This was too much for him to handle.

After regaining his composure and stumbling out of the blood bags, he looked towards the stairs where the new voice had come from and lord behold there stood Richie fucking Tozier with a huge fucking grin on his face as he watched Eddie freak out down below.

“Holy shit! Dude, that was brilliant!” Richie howled, laughing uncontrollably and clutching his stomach as he doubled over. What the fuck was wrong with this kid. Why did Eddie hang out with him?!

“What the fuck are you thinking, Richie! Don’t ever fucking do that, I swear to god-“ Eddie began rambling, swearing and shouting at Richie at the top of the stairs. Everything was momentarily forgotten while the 2 boys argued (Eddie) and laughed (Richie) at each other. 

“What are you doing down here?” –“Don’t ever sneak up on my again, I’m going to have a heart attack-“ “is there where you pick up all yours girls-“ “you know there is an aid epidemic and what if these blood bag got into my mouth-“ “you should’ve seen your face holy fu-“ “I could’ve nearly died and-“

“EDDIE!!!”

Eddie was certain he was going to have a heart attack now. If one more thing jumps out at him today, he’s going to drop dead. 100%. 

Both him and Richie’s head whipped towards the curtain, the figure behind it now remembered. It was thrashing and frantically trying to break free. Eddie just stared at it in disbelief. “You see that too, right Richie?” He asked in a quiet, shaking voice, taking another puff of his inhaler.

“Uh-huh…” was all Richie was able to say. His mind going on auto pilot as he slowly stalked down the stairs and into the basement with Eddie, walking close behind him, practically gripping his arm. “What the fuck is that…” The 2 boys were in a daze, neither one of them blinking, as they just stared at the curtain, the figure still thrashing about.

“I think it’s my mum…” Eddie said unsure, his voice almost indistinguishable. Together, the 2 boys reached forward at the same time, their hands brushing against one another as they gripped the curtain slowly, but tightly. Neither of them dared open it yet, both terrified of what they will see on the other side.

“Okay… on 3, ready?” Richie let out in a gasp. Eddie could tell he was trying to play it cool again, act like he wasn’t scared. Eddie noticed their hands basically on top of one another, and he could feel Richie’s palm shaking on top of his. If this was any other scenario, Eddie would be blushing like a mad man. No, stop thinking about Richie, your mum is in danger, dammit! 

“1..” Richie.

“2…” Eddie. 

Eddie thought his heart was going to beat out of his chest, it was all he could hear. With one last muster of courage left in him..

“3!” Together. The both gripped and ripped open the curtain.

At first, there was nothing super noticeable. Just another row of shelves, stacked with books and more medical supplies. The dust covering it in a thick layer, like it hadn’t been touched in years. But the further along their eyes trickled, the more they regretted it.

At the very end of the room, laid Mrs K. She was strapped to what seemed like an upright table with thick leather bounds. Her hair was a mess, she was sweaty and her clothes clung to her skin. Lord knows how long she had been down here.

“Mummy!!!” Eddie screamed in horror, racing over to his mum immediately. Richie took a step forward, standing in the middle of the room, looking at the scene before him. Other than Niebolt, Richie hadn’t had much experience with this crazy shit as the others. It was still something he needed a second to process. This was Mrs k, someone he saw on a weekly basis when he went over to Eddie’s. Richie always got the sense she didn’t like him very much, but she thought that about all of Eddie’s friends, right? I mean, there was nothing Richie had ever personally done to get Mrs K to hate him. 

And yet here she was, that familiar face, now in distress, strapped down to a table in a dank old basement, with Eddie screaming and desperately fiddling with the bounds. Kinda hard when he just has one hand though.

“Mummy what happened- what are you doing down here?!” Eddie couldn’t form proper sentences, his heart was racing and his breathe was ragged, his mind was cloudy and holy shit where’s my inhaler?!

Mrs K looked down at her son with pleading eyes. “You have to get me out of here Eddie, I don’t want to die!” She was nearly crying at this point, Eddie too. “He’ll infect me!” Richie looked around the room after that statement, suddenly remembering that oh yeah a fucking killer clown could jump out at any second, hey. But there was nothing. No creepy clown, no scary doors, no amputated lady with no legs. Nothing out of the ordinary. Except for Mrs K, obviously. “Who will infect you, Mrs K?” Richie asked, his voice sounding much calmer then the 2 before him, both frantically panting and crying. 

At that moment, it was like a nuke had gone off or something. The scream that escaped Mrs K’s lips was deafening. It made both Richie jump and Eddie scramble away slightly from his mum, watching her in horror as she just laid strapped to the table screaming her lungs out at nothing. “What?!” “What happened Mum?!” The 2 boys were asking over the top of each other, both trying to calm her down and figure out what the fuck she was screaming about.

Something made Richie feel a little uneasy. As he stared, terrified (not that he would ever admit that) at Eddie’s mum, he noticed exactly where she was looking. It wasn’t at some creepy clown, or a leper, no. It was right at Richie. She stared into his big, wide eyes and screamed like he had a gun pointed at her. Richie felt his heart rate pick up a little bit.

It was like Eddie was able to read Richie’s mind, because at the same time he noticed it as well. Noticed the daggers his mum was planting on Richie, her scream directed straight at him. There was nothing behind him, or anything else in the room to be exact for her to be screaming at. It was him. Richie’s expression was a mix between confusion and terror. “Mum! What’s wrong?” Eddie tried again, this time reaching his good hand out to try and pull down on the straps again, in an attempt to loosen them. He mentally cursed at himself for not being able to help her more, he only had one good arm for Christ sakes. 

After a few seconds, but what seemed like an eternity, Richie snapped out of his trance-like expression and noticed Eddie attempting to free his mum again. This time, Richie took a step forward, wanting to help his best friend, even if his mum was screaming right at him. He’ll ask when everyone is out of this creepy place.

He didn’t get more than one step though. “No! Don’t you come any closer!” Mrs K shouted at him, a near assertiveness in her voice, like a mother disciplining her child. Richie froze.

Eddie looked over at his best friend, stuck in place, and then at his mum. What the heck was happening?! His mum was shouting at Richie as though he was about to kill them both. Richie was annoying, sure, but he would never hurt Eddie. “Mum…”

“He’s going to infect me, Eddie!” Eddie looked frantically between his mother strapped down onto the germ-ridden table, and the wide-eyed, raven haired boy standing before her, an equally confused expression plastered on his face.

“The fuck is she talking about, Eds?” Richie whispered, his eyes almost glued to the screaming woman. He seemed almost, hurt. Like that comment had really struck deep within him. What was his mum going on about? Richie doesn’t have any diseases, he’s not going to infect anyone! And Eddie would know – he could sense sickness a mile away.

“He’s got the disease, Eddie bear! The one I’ve warned you about!” This wasn’t making any sense.

“I think your mistaken, Mrs K, I’m not sick-“ Richie started, trying to laugh the situation off like it was all one big misunderstanding, but Eddie’s mum cut him off.

“Oh but you are. You’ve got a sickness like no other. One that you try and hide and hope that no one will notice. You cover it up with witty jokes and one liners, and pretend you’re okay. Pretend your normal.” There was something different in his mother’s voice. It wasn’t terror anymore, it had switched. It was dark, and cold. If Eddie had to pinpoint a moment he’d heard his mum speak like this, it was to Bev after he broke his arm. His mum accusing her of sleeping around and being ‘dirty’. Eddie’s eyes were darting back and forth, between his mother and his best friend. He had taken a step back again and was now standing off to the side, in the middle of them. As Eddie looked over to Richie, there was something he 100% had never seen before. Richie was shaking with fear. He was frozen in place, unable to move freely. He wasn’t even blinking. His eyes just fixated onto Mrs K, who snarled at him where she stood.

“Does Eddie know you’re trying to infect him? Trying to make him sick like you?” 

Eddie couldn’t process any of this. Nothing made sense. “What- what do you mean, mum? Richie what does she mean?” Someone just give him answers! Because it seems from the look of things that Eddie is the only one who doesn’t know what the heck anyone is talking about. 

“I’m not…” Richie started, sounding so defeated. His voice so quiet you could barely make it out. 

“Don’t lie to me!” Mrs K snapped, making even Eddie jump a little in shock. “Why don’t you tell Eddie bear what you’re trying to infect him with? My innocent, little baby…”

“I…” Richie was never one to be at a loss for words. But right now, he was barely Richie. He looked like a shell of a boy who used to be Richie, but now is just hollowed out. 

“Richie…” Eddie said quietly, almost a whisper. He didn’t move. What if he mother was right? What if Richie has a disease he was hiding? Of god what if I’m infected already?! No, shut up you idiot. Don’t jump to conclusions. This is Richie here!

“I…” he couldn’t form a single sentence. Richie looked so defeated. So scared. 

“No?” This was barely Eddie’s mother anymore. His mother was cruel, but never this sadistic. “Well I can’t have a boy like you around my son..” A few seconds passed. You could have heard a pin drop. “Trying to turn my Eddie bear into a faggot like you!” 

Time stopped. Eddie thought he was going to have an anxiety attack, there was just way too many emotions to process in such a short period of time. His mind was flooding and all his thoughts just turned into mush as they leaked from his ears. 

Richie… Richie had the same disease he did? All this time Eddie thought he was alone, that he had to hide it so none of his friends left him. But Richie was sick too! Why was Eddie feeling a small flicker of hope, in a time like this?

Realising he had momentarily forgotten all about Richje, he glanced at his friend trying to gage what was going on in his head and he could’ve sworn he saw a small glisten on water leak down his face. Richie was crying. 

“No, I-I I didn’t, I mean- I’m not.. Mrs K, I swear-“ He fumbled on his words, clearly not knowing what to say to make this better. But wait, this didn’t make any sense! Richie always made jokes about having sex, and being manly, and being super into chicks and- oh, of course. Eddie’s lightbulb moment. He was trying to cover it up.   
Even though everyone knew Eddie’s mum was the overbearing one, the whole of Derry was very judgemental and unwelcoming to these things. You had to be a certain way and live a certain lifestyle. Anything outside of that, you were a freak. Richie had great parents – very loving and open. But even they drew a line somewhere to what they would accept with Richie’s behaviour. Boasting loudly and obnoxiously about fucking Tina Peterson was better to explain to their neighbours than why their son was caught holding hands with another boy.

“Richie..” Eddie started. 

“Do you want to tell Eddie what you think about when you’re with him?” That caught Eddie’s attention. Richie still didn’t move. “About the kissing bridge? The looks you give him when he isn’t looking?” Mrs K chuckled, but it wasn’t his mum. No. It was a snicker, an evil grin plastering her face, like she was possessed. Eddie knew this wasn’t his mother.

Yet Eddie felt… relief? Richie liked him. And not just the best friend way like they were meant to, no. Like the butterflies in your stomach whenever your best friend looks at you with his big stupid grin after saying a bad joke, pushing his big clunky glasses up with his index finger just as they started to slide down a little, like. 

“My son will never want a dirty boy like you.”

What was relief a mere second ago, was now rage. Eddie doesn’t know what happened. Something in him snapped – he looked over at Richie with a small glance and saw how the boy physically flinched at that statement, like he had been hit, his head now staring down at the ground, refusing the make eye contact with anyone, small little droplets over water down by his feet. Seeing Richie, his best friend maybe more so broken hurt, and then looking over at his not mother causing Richie to feel that way, well Eddie went into full defence mode. “Shut up!!” He growled. Stamping over to the being strapped to the table and whacking it in the face with his cast as hard as could, trying to ignore the pain that shot up his arm. 

“Eddie!” Richie, now remembering how to speak, shouted from behind him. Eddie didn’t care what he just did. He may have just hit his mother in the face, but it wasn’t her. Eddie knew that. It wasn’t real.

Suddenly, his mother went limp. Like she had just been knocked out. She was still standing, the straps supporting her weight up, but she wasn’t moving. The 2 boys stood there in disbelief, both looking at the figure. “I think you killed her…” Richie finally spoke, quietly.

There was no noise except the 2 boys breathing heavily as they both stood still, waiting for something to happen. Richie hadn’t moved from where he stood. Nothing.

“It wasn’t real…” Eddie spoke. Turning on his heels to look at Richie. Immediately, Richie’s eyes darted away, avoiding eye contact with Eddie. Ashamed. “Richie.” Eddie said, a little assertiveness in his voice. Richie just ignored him. 

“We should probably get out of here before creepy Santa upstairs comes down and sees your mum in some weird BDSM type shit.” Typical Richie, trying to hide his feelings, like he wasn’t just outed to his best friend, his crush.

“Richie..” a little softer this time. 

“Seriously, lets just go.” Richie had now adopted the assertiveness, clearly just wanting to get out of here and pretend it never happened. He even started walking away, towards the curtain they had ripped open. But he was stopped in his tracks by a not-so-human growling sound

Both boys slowly turned their attention back to Mrs K, still limp in the straps. However, she was groaning slightly, a deep growl. As the boys took a few steps closer to examine, and fill their curiosity, they noticed her head was… cracking? Like a cement floor that was too worn down, small cracks started appearing, making their way down her whole face, small specs peeling off and flying around in the air. The thought of accidentally inhaling one of them was enough to make Eddie gag.

“What the fuck…” Richie proclaimed, both boys taking a small step backwards, as if by now they knew that something nasty was about to follow. And the were right.

All of a sudden, the straps holding down this figure snapped apart, releasing the limp heavy figure with no support. The weight crashed down onto the ground, no slowing down, and instead of a large thud, or maybe some blood if this was, you know, an actual person, the figure just shattered. A thousand small specs of remains floating around in a large gush of impact. The scene was like defeating a final boss battle in a video game.

Eddie instinctively covered his mouth and nose with his hands, ensuring not to breathe any in, while Richie just stared gobsmacked. “Holy fuck!” He proclaimed, grabbing Eddie’s good arm and making a b-line yo the exit, dragging the small kid behind him as the small specs of the remains of what was Mrs K now swallowed the room.

The 2 ran up the stairs, ignoring Mr Keene’s shout at them as they ran through the chemist and back out the front door. Never once looking back. As they made it outside and the sun hit their face, an overwhelming sense of relief overcame them as they both doubled over, hands on their knees, puffing and gasping, like they just ran a marathon. 

“What the fuck is wrong with your mother, dude”

“That was NOT my mother!”

“Well sure smelt like her.” Richie took off his glasses, cleaning the lens on his Hawaiian shirt.

Eddie just stared. Does he say something? Does he leave it? Pretend it never happened? Pretend he doesn’t know what he knows? Maybe it was lying. Trying to divide them. But he saw Richie’s reaction – that was genuine. Fuck, he should say something.

“Richie..” Once again he started, and once again Richie seemed to be able to tell what was going to happen and cut him off. “Come on, let’s get out of this place.” He grabbed his bike handles, taking his bike off the wall it was leaning on and swung one leg over, ready to take off.

“You’re not sick.” Was all Eddie was able to get out. Neither am I. Richie didn’t look at him, his eyes fixating on his handles whilst he nibbled on his lower lip. Remaining silent for a few seconds. 

“You sure? I thought my mum has genital herpes, remember?” He said with a slight smirk, only slightly glancing over at Eddie’s direction. God, this kid was going to annoy him to death. “Plus, I’m sure you’ve got plenty of medication in that fanny pack that’ll cure me.” He said with a shrug, being somewhat serious.

“You don’t need to be cured, Richie. Nothings wrong with you.” Eddie placed a comforting hand on his friends shoulder. Fuck how were they going to move on from this.

Say something you idiot!

A small pause.

“There’s nothing wrong with either of us.”


End file.
